The present invention relates to the simulation of movement in a virtual environment based on measuring actual movement in a constrained environment.
Previous devices used to simulate in game movement have either been comprised of exercise equipment such as stationary bikes or treadmills that may be driven by motors, or a confined space or seat. These devices often allow very limited or unrealistic walking or running simulation and may have a very unstable walking surface that could prove hazardous for an inexperienced user; such as the concave, low friction platform of Williams' U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,218, or the large spherical apparatus used in Latypov's U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,134. Virtual reality devices in particular are very disorienting for some users. The obvious difficulty here is that it is very easy for a person running on an unstable surface to fall or suffer injury.